Tag: Goldman Sachs

Rally Around Goldman

Daily Agitator

I, like just about everyone, about had enough of those that come to the defense of Goldman-Sachs….from the arrogance the management to the consequences of their actions to their bloated bonuses……but there are those that are rallying to the defense of Goldman……

From Bloomberg’s Business Week:

Former President Bill Clinton said he’s skeptical that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. broke the law, while adding that the U.S. government’s lawsuit against the firm underscores the growth of financial transactions with “no underlying merit.”

What would you expect one of the architects of financial dereg to say?  Thanx to Clinton and his buds in the Democratic Leadership Council that Glass-Steagall was swept away opening this financial casino to the speculators and the thieves.  And I would venture to say that Goldman has some cash in the Clinton Foundation.

He is not the only one that has come to the side of Goldman….the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet, has come to the aid of Goldman, saying that there was nothing illegal in what the company had done and that the case by the SEC has no merit…..but what would you expect a guy that had $5 billion tied up in the company to say?

The recent news is that the SEC had a civil investigation into Goldman and its dealings in the dark markets and now according to a Newser report:

Looks like Goldman Sachs might have some company. Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into some of Morgan Stanley’s mortgage derivative deals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Morgan Stanley created several mortgage-backed CDOs that it then bet against. Some it marketed itself, while others were sold by Citigroup and UBS. Investigators are trying to determine whether Morgan properly disclosed its role in the deals.

The investigation grew out of the SEC’s massive civil fraud investigation, and is still in its preliminary stages. The civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs grew out of the same SEC investigation, and Goldman is also under criminal investigation. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman says the Justice Department hasn’t contacted them about the probe. “We have looked into the situation in some detail,” he added.

There is always more when talking about the banksters (banks + gangsters)……

Goldman Sachs made money on trading every single day last quarter, but anybody following its advice wasn’t so lucky. Seven of Goldman’s nine “recommended top trades for 2010” have been money-losing duds, Bloomberg reports, with the worst of them dropping as much as 14%. “This says that Goldman’s guys are only human,” says one investment executive. “No one is always right.” So how is Goldman making so much money if it’s so wrong? Goldman’s COO says that it makes most of the money by capturing bid-offer spreads when it acts as intermediaries for its clients, and that proprietary trading accounts for only a small part of its earnings.

Do you now see where you are getting screwed?  They bet on you losing money….the money that they tell you is a good investment….DO YOU GET IT NOW?

For once ..PAY ATTENTION!………the banks are gambling with YOUR money….they get to keep all the profits and saddle YOU with the losses…..do I need to say this again?  Has it sunk into your brain yet?

It will be worth watching this play out…..will Goldman get what is coming to them, that matter will all the banksters get what is coming to them  or will they skate…My money is on the skate….

IF YOU LIVE ON MAIN STREET THEN YOU ARE SO SCREWED!

Bastards! One And All!

Daily Agitator

I spent a good portion of my day watching the Senate hearings into the Goldman-Sachs scam….there is only so much arrogance I could stand….the pricks from Goldman were anything but forthright…they NEVER answered a single question and this went on for 6 hours maybe more…..

They were well trained and coached by their attorneys and they proved, at least to me, just how bad we need to cut the dicks off these self-centered toads……but I will not hold my breath….I do not see the Congress growing a complete set of nuts in this matter……

Yes, I thought the guys from Goldman were arrogant and self-indulgent……the Senators were angry….trying to reflect the anger by their folks back home…..this was a show also….these dipsticks have nothing to be angry about…why?  These are the same people that allowed this gambling scam to go forward…..How is that, Professor?

They are the ones in 1999 that repealed the Glass-Steagall Act…..and I know what the Hell is that?  The easy answer is:

Legislation passed by Congress authorizing deposit insurance and prohibiting commercial banks from owning full-service brokerage firms. Under Glass-Steagall, these banks were prohibited from investment banking activities, such as underwriting corporate securities or municipal revenue bonds. The law was designed to insulate bank depositors from the risk involved when a bank deals in securities and to prevent a bank collapse like the one that occurred during the Great Depression. The original separation of commercial and investment banking had already significantly eroded when, on November 12, 1999 the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 was signed into law, repealing parts of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act and the 1956 Bank Holding Company Act and effectively allowing banks, brokers, and insurers into each other’s businesses. Basically, the 1999 Act allows banks to affiliate with securities firms and insurers through a holding company structure and permits nationally chartered banks to engage in most financial activities through direct subsidiaries. While provisions of Glass-Steagall continue to restrict banks from most underwriting activities and securities firms from taking deposits, these restrictions apply only to the banks and securities firms, not to their Financial Holding Company affiliates and are, therefore, technical.

Everyone in Washington is to blame, as much as the bankers for the problems we have now…..so to watch these Senators feign anger is sickening and to watch the guys from Wall Street sounded like they are a victim in all this is just as putrid as the Senators.

Once again we come to responsibility….NO one is to blame….is the cry….”sh*t happens!” seems to be the norm……they ALL are responsible for the economic mess….everyone involved needs to hone up to their complacency in the financial crisis….they were warned in 1999 to what they were doing and they did not heed the word…..the people need to be angry with ALL those involved in the scam and that started with Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that let the banks run wild unchecked and Pres. Clinton who also thought this was a sterling idea…….Repubs as well as Dems are the cause of your problems…..stop whining!  And make else dipsticks take credit where credit is due!

Is Goldman-Sachs Screwed?

Subject:  Financial News/Economic Crisis

The big financial news last week was that the investment firm of Goldman-Sachs was been accused, that is the key word, accused, of financial fraud….the anger by Main Street makes this an interesting turn of events and does not hurt the battle for financial reform either…….unless you are an ardent investor or an economic junkie you probably have NO idea what all the crap is about….true?

Let me help……

The SEC’s submission to New York’s Southern District Court provides a devastating glimpse into the criminal activities of a financial oligarchy that was not only indifferent to the destructive social consequences of its operations, but eager to profit from a crisis precipitated by its own speculative activities.

In April of 2007, just prior to the sub-prime mortgage collapse, Goldman Sachs received $15 million from hedge fund operator John Paulson to help put together a package of securitised home loans—a collateralised debt obligation (CDO)—and market it to Goldman’s clients. According to the SEC, Paulson and Goldman knew that the CDO, called ABACUS 2007-AC1, was comprised of junk assets, but they led the public to believe that a sound investment was being offered.

Paulson had staked the fortunes of his hedge fund betting on a market collapse. He therefore selected the worst sub-prime mortgage securities on the market for the Goldman CDO, mostly derived from mortgages in Arizona, Florida, Nevada and California—states which were subsequently among the hardest hit by the wave of foreclosures.

The banks lured people into taking out mortgages they knew the purchasers could not afford. They then packaged these toxic loans into securities—collateralize debt obligations—and made billions in profits by selling them to investors around the world, including pension funds, 401(k) plans, insurance companies and private investors. Those involved knew very well they were running the equivalent of a giant Ponzi scheme—a fraud far more massive and destructive than the criminal operation headed by Bernard Madoff.  (Thanx to Barry Grey and Patrick O’Connor for the synopsis above)

That is by NO means the end of the tale…..there will be more coming….that is if they really want to find the culprits that caused the economic crisis….it will be interesting see how this plays…after all Wall Street and mostly namely Goldman-Sachs gave a million maybe more to politicians in 2008….will that preclude them being found guilty?

Make ‘Em Pay!

For months now I have been a bitch about the taxpayers money being used to give bonuses to the fat cats on Wall Street…..at every turn the banks have gotten a special treatment and it looked like the taxpayer was screwed…..

Today Obama will announce a plan to recover upwards of $120 billion of the money originally given the banks….

Obama’s announcement will come as U.S. unemployment is stuck in double digits and public anger is growing over big bonuses that some financial firms are poised to resume paying, barely a year after the height of the global financial crisis that made the bailout necessary.

The Obama administration official said the amount of money raised from the fees would not exceed $120 billion since this was the higher end of conservative estimates of the cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

Sounds like a pretty good idea to me….but as usual there is a downside to the plan…..The source, speaking anonymously because the fee has not officially been proposed, said government officials are also discussing exempting automakers and insurer American International Group from the fee, even though these companies are expected to represent a large chunk of the bailout losses.

There are other ways of “Making Them Pay”……that would be a Goldman-Sachs shareholder that is suing the company……this was posted in “Before Its News”:

the firm is supposed to spend about 50% of its net revenue on salaries and bonuses.  But in 2008 Goldman dished out $4.82 billion in bonuses despite earnings of only $2.32 billion..In the first quarter of 2009, it spent 259% of its net income on employee and executive compensation and in the second quarter 193%. Brown is now Goldman for exceeding its own rules on salaries and bonuses.

I makes me happy to see that at least someone is mad enough to do something as a payback for the screwing the banks have given the taxpayer….I just wish more people would take these a/holes to task….

Goldman-Sachs Spits On The Taxpayer!

We all have an opinion on whether the bank bailout was a good thing…the problem for Wall Street is that more Americans feel betrayed by their government for handing over massive amounts of cash to these thieves while they have to struggle just to keep food and clothing and shelter….and yet there is still NO demand from the people for the heads of these gtamblers that have pissed away America’s economic future…….

The WSJ is reporting that the CEO of Goldman is talking and apologizing:

Blankfein made a startling confession Tuesday. He apologized for Goldman’s role in the financial crisis, saying that the bank “participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret.”

This is the same egotistical bastard that last month said:

he made an embarrassing comment in an interview with the Financial Times, saying that he was just “doing God’s work.”

YOU should be mad as hell at the audacity of this a/hole….why?

He got paid $400+ million last year…the year that he was a driving force in the demise of an American economy……he is the a/hole that is setting aside billions to give bonuses to the employees……this is the a/hole that got a massive transfusion of taxpayer money and in return he is spitting in the face of every taxpayer in America.

But Professor he apologized…..did he?……what did he apologize for?  Did he apologize for wrecking the economy?  Is he apologizing for stealing from the taxpayer to pay himself?  Just what is he apologizing for?

If this is a PR ploy then it is piss poor….Americans need to stand up and DEMAND that these thieves be held accountable for the destruction of the American economy….We do NOT need to accept their apologies….why?…..these bastards are insincere…if they were truly remorseful then they would be handling all this situation differently….the people need to send the message…….a FAKE apology is NOT accepted!

People’s Money Well Spent

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. may seek to increase its stake in Sanyo Electric Co., challenging Panasonic Corp.’s plans to take over the world’s largest maker of rechargeable batteries.

The New York-based bank may offer to buy Sanyo shares from Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Hiroko Matsumoto, a Goldman spokeswoman in Tokyo, said by phone. Goldman, which earlier today rejected an offer from Panasonic as too low, Daiwa and Sumitomo hold a controlling stake in Osaka-based Sanyo.

Panasonic, the world’s largest consumer-electronics maker, plans to pay 130 yen a share to buy Sanyo’s stock, up from 120 yen previously, Nikkei reported today, without saying where it got the information. The amount is lower than Sanyo’s closing price of 169 yen yesterday and Credit Suisse Group AG’s projection of as much as 140 yen made on Nov. 4.

Sanyo lost 12 percent to close at 148 yen in Tokyo trading, while Panasonic dropped 5.2 percent to 1,034 yen.

Did Goldman get bailout money?  So this is where the money goes?  Makes me feel all the better about the bailout.  (sarcasm intended)

Execs Forgo Bonuses

How nice, I am really impressed (btw that was hard sarcasm).

Top bankers at Goldman Sachs are not going to take their bonuses this year while rivals at UBS may have to wait up to three years to receive theirs, as major banks respond to the growing backlash over pay.

The move by seven senior executives at Goldman to forgo their annual payouts could put pressure on other US financial firms to ensure their top staff do not receive bonuses this year.

Their counterparts at UBS, who have already made it clear they will not take bonuses for 2008, are also introducing a pay plan that would prevent bonuses being paid for three years.

The bonus will be based on a malus system. A maximum of one third of the bonus will be paid out and the rest put in an escrow account and will be paid out on future performance. For instance, if UBS makes a loss in subsequent years, the bonus will not be awarded and the cash balance reduced.

In other words these leaches will get their money.  This is just a move to shut the critics up.  The execs have NO intention of losing their money.

The seven executives from Goldman Sachs who are turning down their bonuses are Lloyd Blankfein, the chairman, who received $68.5m last year, Jon Winkelreid and Gary Cohn, co-presidents who received $67.5m each, David Vinar, the finance director, who received $57.5m, and Michael Sherwood, Michael Evans and John Weinberg, whose pay is not disclosed.

The bank has entered the last fortnight of its financial year and will announce bonuses to staff next month. So far this year it has set aside $11.4bn which is a third less than last year

I say keep an eye on these guys….bet they will get their blood money in the long run…..this is not gonna stop them from making bad decision in the future, knowing their money will ALWAYS be there no matter how screwed their management is.

Morgan Stanley Responds To The Bailout

The Wall Street that shaped the financial world for two decades ended last night, when Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley concluded there is no future in remaining investment banks now that investors have determined the model is broken.

The Federal Reserve’s approval of their bid to become banks ends the ascendancy of the securities firms, 75 years after Congress separated them from deposit-taking lenders, and caps weeks of chaos that sent Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. into bankruptcy and led to the rushed sale of Merrill Lynch & Co. to Bank of America Corp.

The announcement paves the way for the two New York-based firms, both of which will now be regulated by the Fed, to build their deposit base, potentially through acquisitions. That will allow them to rely more heavily on deposits from retail customers instead of using money borrowed in the bond market — the leverage that led to the undoing of Bear Stearns and Lehman.

Morgan Stanley has taken $15.7 billion of writedowns and losses on mortgage-related securities and other types of loans since the credit crunch started last year. Goldman’s tally stands at about $4.9 billion. While both companies have remained profitable and avoided money-losing quarters suffered by Lehman and Merrill Lynch, their revenue from sales and trading and investment banking has been declining this year.

As bank holding companies, Goldman and Morgan Stanley will no longer be required to mark all of their assets to the current market values. Assets held in the bank divisions of the firms don’t have to be valued at market rates, potentially allowing the companies to allow further writedowns on the value of their holdings.